Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-09-15

or a NASAL Spear-thruSt. There We're no
living Nasal near, but the black nurse was
on her fset, and was cutting with a spear
the ropethat bound Flossie's feet. Next
second she ran to the wall of the kraal. and
began toclimb over it, an example which
the little girl followed. But Flossie was
evidently very stiff and cramped and
could only so slowly; and, as she went, two
Nasal flying down the kraal caught sight
of her and rushed toward her TO kill her
The first fellow came up just as the poor
little girl, after desperate effort to climb
the wall, fell back into the kraal Up
flashed the great spear, and as 1t did SO
bullet from my rife found its home in the
holders ribs, and over he went like a shot
rabbit. But behind him was the other
man, and, alas, / had only that one cart
ridge in the magaZinel Flossie had Scram-
bled to her feet and was facing the second
man, who was advancing with raised spear.
/ turned my head aside and felt as sick rs
death. could not bear to see him stab
her. CHANGING up again, to my surprise ]
saw the Masa1's spear lying on the ground,
while the man himself was staggering
about with both hands to his head. Sud
denly / saw puff of smoke, proceeding APP
parently from Flossie, and the man fell
down headlong. Then I remembered the
Derringer pistol she carried, and saw that
she had fired both barrels Of it at him,
thereby saving her life. In another instant
she had made an effort and, assisted by
the nurse, who was lying on the top, had
scrambled over the wall, and knew that
she was, comparatively speaking, safe.
All this takes some time to tell, but / do
not suppose that it took more than fifteen
seconds to enact. soon got the chamber
Of the repeater filled again with cartridges
and once more opened fire; not on the
seething black mass which was GATHERING
at the end of the kraal but on fugitives
who bethought them to climb the wall
pick of several Of these men, moving down
toward the end of the kraal as I did so,
and arriving at the corner, or rather the
bend Of the oval, in time to see, and by.
means OF my rifle, to assist in the mighty
struggle that took place there.
By this time some two hundred Nasal
allowing that we had up to the present ac-
counted for fifty-had gathered together
in front Of the thorn-sT0pped entrance,
driven thither by the spears of Goods men,
whom they doubtless supposed were large
force instead of being but ten strong. For
some reason it never occurred to them to
try and rush the wall, which they could
have scrambled over with comparative
ease; they all made for the fence, which
was really a strongly interviewer fortifica-
ton. With bound the first warrior went
at it, and even before he touched the
ground on the other side / saw Sir Henry's
great AK swing up and fall with awful
force upon his feather head-piece, and he
fell into the middle Of the thorns. Then,
with q shrek and crash, they bega, to
break through somehow, and ever as they
came the great ak swung, and Inkosikaasi
flashed, and they fell dead one by one, each
man helping to build up barrier against
his fellows. Those who escaped the axes
OF the pair fell at the hands of the Askari
and the two mission Kafirs, and those who
passed scathless from them fell beneath
my own and Mackenzie's fire.
Faster and more furious grew the fight
ing. Single Nasal would spring upon the
dead bodies of their comrades, and engage
one or the other of the axmen with their
long spears; but, thanks chiefly to the mail
shirts, the result was always the same.
Presently there was a great swing of the
ak, sound of crashing bones, and another
dead Nasal. That is, if the man was en-
gagged with Sir Henry. # it was Umslop-
ogaas that he fought with, the result in
deed would be the same, but it would be
differently attained 1t was but rarely
that the Zulu used the crashing double
handed stroke; on the contrary, he did lit
tie more than tap continually at his adver-
sary's head, pecking at it with the pole-ax
end OF the ak as woodpecker CAS- l think
| have already SAID, one of Umslopogaas'
Zulu names was the TSWoodpecker." /
could never make out why he was called
SO until I saw him in action with Inkosi-
kaasi, when I at once recognized the re-
semblance.-A. O. pecks at rotten wood.
Presently a peck would go home, and his
enemy would drop down with a neat little
circular hole in his forehead or skull ex-
actly similar to that which q cheese-scoop
makes in q cheese. He never used the
broad blade OF the AK except when hard
pressed, or when striking at shield. He
told me afterward that he did not consider
it sportsmanlike.
Good and his men were quite close now,
and our people had to cease firing into the
mass for fear of killing some of them Gas it
was, one of them wac killed in this way.
Mad and desperate with fear, the Nasal by
frantic effort, burst through the thorn
fence and piled-up dead, and, sweeping
Curtis, Umslopogaas, and the other three
before them, broke into the open. And
now it was that we began to lose men fast.
Down went our poor Askari, who was
armed with an ak, a great spear standing
out q foot behind his back; and before long
the two spearsmen who had stood with
him went down, too, dying fighting like
tigers; and others Of our party shared their
fate. For a moment I feared the fight was
lost-certainly it trembled IN the balance.
I shouted to my men to cast down their
rifles, and to take spears and throw them
selves into the melee. They obeyed, their
blood being now thoroughly up, and Nj.
Mackenzie's people followed their example.
This move had momentary good result,
but still the fight hung in the balance.
To be continued.
Stanley Alive and Marching.
LONDON, Sept. 1o.-A dispatch from
st. Paul, Delandy, dated Sept. 9, states
that Major Bartellot had received news
from StapIev dated ,TuTv -. STANLEY